Ireland is to be blitzed by fragments of falling comments tonight and tomorrow, it has emerged.

But most of the shooting star fragments invading our skies are no bigger than a grain of sand.

The spectacular display should be visible from right across the country - provided we have clear skies, Irishmirror.ie reports .

The meteors are fragments of Halley's Comet, which orbits the sun every 76 years, and will begin raining down above our heads tonight.

The best time to see them, however, is just before dawn on Friday morning.

And although tiny, because of the speed they enter the Earth's atmosphere [150,000mph], the particles will leave an amazing streak of white light through the night sky.

David Moore of Astronomy Ireland said: "It's a free celestial fireworks display that can be seen all over Ireland and we are asking members of the public to count how many they see each quarter of an hour and email them for a nationwide count.

Halleys comet

"The great thing is that you need no optical equipment, just the naked eye will do. Simply email how many you see to magazine@astronomy.ie."

The 'Eta Aquarid' meteors can be seen anywhere in the sky and there could be up to 10 times more tonight than on a normal night.

Although Halley's Comet, a gigantic, speeding ball of rock and ice is now far away, beyond the orbit of Uranus, it left behind a stream of dust.

Here's some advice if you plan on going out to watch the light display: Dress warmly; bring a reclining chair or spread a thick blanket over a flat spot of ground; lie down and look up toward the east.

Meteors can appear in any part of the sky, although their trails will point back toward Aquarius.